Fire Extinguisher Inspection Tag, Explained

The tag on a fire extinguisher is the proof an inspector reads first. It tells them when the unit was last serviced, by whom, and whether anyone has looked at it since. Most owners are told to “check the tag” without being told what a current one looks like, which is what this guide covers: what goes on a tag, what the colors do and do not mean, and what to do with a red one.

What is a fire extinguisher inspection tag?

There are really two records. One is the monthly check your own staff does. The other is the annual service tag a technician attaches after maintenance.

On the federal side, OSHA’s rule says the employer is responsible for every extinguisher in the workplace, each one is visually inspected monthly, and each gets an annual maintenance check. The employer must record the date of that annual maintenance and keep the record for one year after the last entry or the life of the shell, whichever is less. The rule asks for the record. It does not say the record has to be a tag, and it contains no tag format.

The format comes from NFPA 10, the extinguisher standard, and from state rules. A vendor’s summary of NFPA 10 (FireInspected, not the standard itself) describes it this way: the monthly record identifies the extinguisher, the month and year of the check and who did it, usually by initials, and can be a tag, a checklist kept on file or an electronic record. After annual maintenance a tag or label goes on the unit showing the month and year, the person or company who did the work, and the type of maintenance. The monthly check needs no certification. The annual maintenance is done by a qualified technician, and in many states a licensed one.

What is on a Texas service tag?

Texas spells it out. Under 28 TAC 34.520, a licensee completes and attaches a new tag after every service, and the signature certifies that the work meets legal requirements. The tag must show:

• The header “Do not remove by order of the State Fire Marshal,” printed in capital letters in at least 10-point bold.
• The service firm’s name, address and telephone number, and its certificate-of-registration number.
• The licensee’s name and license number and the licensee’s signature. A stamped signature is not allowed.
• The month and year, and the type of work, both punched into the tag.
• A description of the service performed.
• The owner’s or occupant’s name and address.
• The extinguisher’s type, size and location.

The tag is 5¼ inches by 2⅝ inches, may be printed for any five-year period, and must not be red. An adhesive label is allowed if it carries the same information. Only an authorized employee of a registered firm, a State Fire Marshal’s Office employee or a representative of a government agency with regulatory authority may remove it. You are not on that list, so leave an old tag for the technician to deal with.

What do the tag colors mean?

Less than people assume. Neither OSHA nor, per the summary above, NFPA 10 sets a color code for extinguisher tags, so the color you see is set by the state or chosen by the tag supplier. The states that regulate it do so differently:

The practical reading is this. In Texas an ordinary service tag can be any color except red, and its color tells you nothing about whether it is current. In both Texas and Louisiana red marks equipment that is unsafe or inoperable, so a red tag on a unit, or in Louisiana a yellow one, is a problem to deal with, not a record to file.

How do you tell if a tag is current?

Read the punches, not the color. In Texas the month and year are punched on the tag, so a tag punched for March of last year is overdue this April. Louisiana punches the day, month and year at marked positions on its tags, once per tag. Annual maintenance is due every 12 months. The monthly column is easier: your own initials and the month, in a log or on a tag.

If you have no tag at all, you have nothing to show. In Florida it is unlawful to service or use an extinguisher without a proper tag (Florida Statutes 633.308). Either way, a missing tag leaves you unable to show the work was done, and it is the kind of thing a fire marshal writes down. See the fire extinguisher inspection page for the yearly visit and who may do it in each state.

What are the six-year and hydrostatic labels?

Two longer-cycle jobs leave their own marks. OSHA requires stored-pressure dry chemical extinguishers that need a 12-year hydrostatic test to be emptied and maintained every 6 years, with disposable non-refillable units exempt. A hydrostatic test is a pressure test of the cylinder. The vendor’s NFPA 10 summary adds that the hydrostatic test date is stamped into the cylinder metal rather than printed on the annual tag, with intervals of 12 years for dry chemical units in mild steel or aluminum shells and 5 years for carbon dioxide and water units.

States handle the labels differently. Louisiana, as one example, requires each six-year maintenance to be recorded on a record tag showing the year and month, the firm and the technician, applied to the outside of the shell without heat, and requires the previous six-year tag to be removed when a new one goes on. For hydrostatic tests it requires a decal with the year, month and test pressure, and it requires the firm to keep a record of each test for at least five years. If your extinguisher is more than six years old with no six-year label, ask your service company what your state requires, because a current annual tag does not make up for it.

What do you do about a red tag?

In Texas a red tag goes on a portable extinguisher or fixed system when impairments make it unsafe or inoperable. The service company must tell you immediately and in writing about every impairment. It must also tell the local fire marshal within 24 hours and send the fire marshal a copy of your written notice within three business days (28 TAC 34.521). A new service tag cannot go on until the impairments are corrected, or the unit is replaced, and it has been re-inspected and found in good working condition. The red tag stays until then and only an authorized person removes it. After it comes off, the fire marshal is told again within five business days.

So your job is simple: get the unit repaired or replaced, have the company re-inspect it, and keep the new service report. Do not hide or remove the tag. The fire marshal already knows. How a fire marshal follows up is in our guide to the fire marshal inspection.